By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A local organization helping to provide much-needed nourishment to area children is in need of additional resources after a funding shortage has left the organization with about a $3,000 gap to make up this school year. 

“It all helps, every little bit helps, even if it is just $20,” said volunteer Sarah Carlson.

While the program has been an important part of the community since 2010, funding shortages have resulted in a big push from volunteers within the backpack for hunger program to keep the program going locally. In the past, half of the funding the NY Mills program received was from the Friends of Friends of Otter Tail County, but donations to that organization are down, while volunteers for the NY Mills program reach out to local organizations and businesses to try and make up the difference.

The NY Mills Lions Club has been a big sponsor of the program for a number of years, while the Bluffton Braves Baseball Association gave a large donation this year to help close that funding gap. 

So far the NY Mills Backpack for Hunger Program has generated about $7,000 in donations for this school year, while it costs approximately $10,000 to fund the program for 40 students. The need for the program continues not only in NY Mills, but Otter Tail County in general, where local children continue to experience food insecurity, which is made worse by long weekends or time away from school. 

Locally, a 2025 Map the Meal Gap statistic estimated 1,800-2,000 children in Otter Tail County experience food insecurity. Many of the children experiencing hunger live in households that do not qualify for assistance and that includes the greater NY Mills community. 

“We have a lot of food insecurities in Otter Tail County and I don’t think people always realize that,” said Jennifer Parta. 

Since its inception in 2010, the NY Mills Backpack for Hunger Program has helped children experiencing food insecurity by providing bags of nutritious, kid-friendly, non-perishable food items to take home over the weekends and during school breaks and holidays. For many of the children in the program the anonymously received food provides much-needed nourishment to get them through the weekend before school starts the next week.

“It’s just another example of people in our community helping other people in our community,” said Stephanie Von Ruden.

Annually, the program serves approximately 42 students each school year. That equates to 1,500 meals a year and over 23,000 meals since the program began in 2010. 

The children who are selected for the program come from a variety of ways including suggestions from teachers at the school who recognize a student who may need some additional food items over the weekend to parents and family members requesting to be part of the program. 

Privacy is a cornerstone of the program and all referrals and participants are kept confidential, even to the volunteers who drop off the food at the school each week. Research has shown that children who experience food insecurity are more likely to experience difficulty concentrating in school, have increased behavioral and emotional challenges, lower academic achievement, poorer physical health and higher rates of anxiety and stress. 

A unique partnership between the NY Mills Backpack for Hunger Program and Mills Country Market allows for the food items to be stored at the locally-owned grocery store before it is brought to the school each week. That partnership has also led to an opportunity to provide fresh fruit to the students as part of the local backpack program, which is a rarity for similar programs across the state. In fact, at a time when volunteers have been harder to come by, the Muehler family goes one step farther as employees put together the backpacks full of food during down time at the grocery store, allowing the important program to continue with fewer volunteers needed each week. 

“Tim lets us store the food and he uses his high school workers to pack it for us,” said Parta.”It has really gotten to be a fine-tuned system.”

The partnerships with local businesses and organizations doesn’t just stop at Mills Country Market, the NY Mills Backpack for Hunger Program allows local groups to actually bring the bags full of food to the school each week and put them in the designated lockers. Several local groups take turns bringing the food to the school, which makes the program a truly community effort to combat hunger in the community.

Once volunteers get to the school they are given locker numbers where they can put the food while students are in class. No names are given and volunteers do not know the identity of the students who are receiving the food items.

“We put them in their backpacks when the students are in class,” said Von Ruden.

Each food order typically includes everything from milk to juice, a complete meal (chicken pouch, beef stew, soup, spaghetti), easy Mac and Cheese, fruit, vegetables, snacks, cereal and more. 

  Carlson said anyone who would like to make a donation should contact Parta at (218) 371-1351 or Carlson at (218) 317-6024, while other options include requesting Thrivent gift cards to help purchase food items like fruit.